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McLoughlin Chasing Double Selection

12 April 2017

Olympian and Funky Trunks F-Teamer Jack McLoughlin may have already booked his spot on the Aussie team for the World Championships in the 5km Open Water Swim, but his sights are set firmly on adding a pool qualification to his roster as well.

With the Australian Championships well underway in Brisbane, Jack has finished two of his three races and is currently resting ahead of his pet event, the 1500m free.

Day one of the meet saw Jack race in a tight 400m free final where he came third against Olympic Champion Mack Horton and Olympian David McKeon when he touched the wall in 3:46.96, just 0.06 behind David and under the qualifying time for the World Championships team.

"I enjoy racing the 400m because it's a great hit-out at the start of the meet and a chance to qualify for the team straight away. It was a good race with Mack and David and I was happy with how it went," Jack says.

Next up for Jack was the timed final for the 800m free where he won gold in 8:09.56, ahead of fellow F-Teamer Ethan Owens.

"The 800m is a pivotal part of my preparation throughout a meet ahead of the 1500m. For me, the focus is on the last 200m where I look to hit my 1500m race pace and I was able to do that this meet."

In between races, Jack relaxes as much as he can by catching up on movies and playing a few games. He also has a few training sessions in between as well to fine tune ahead of the big race.

"Overall, I'm feeling pretty good and am looking forward to the 1500m. It's going to be a great race against Mack, he's swimming really well at the moment."

While his focus is currently on qualifying for the 1500, Jack's qualification for the 5km Open Water time trial means that there is slightly less pressure on him. At the Australian Open Water Championships in January, his 55:21.60 swim was only his second open water swim ever but he showed his strength over long distance by coming in second.

"Qualifying for the open water team has definitely helped my mental approach to this meet, it means there's slightly less pressure on me. But, my priority right now is to qualify for the 1500m so I'm working to ensure I tick all the boxes ahead of the race tomorrow."

We wish Jack the best of luck in his big race tomorrow!

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